Multiple needle embroidering machine



July 29, 1952 l. FARBER MULTIPLE NEEDLE EMBROIDERING MACHINE 6Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed June 12, 1946 Hillllllll IRVING FARBER INVENTOR A TTORNE Y July 29, 1 95 2 FARBER 2,604,860 MULTIPLE NEEDLE EMBROIDERINGMACHINE I Filed June 12, 1945 r e Sheets-Sheet 2 HgZ ' IRVING FARBERINVENTOR.

1 BY W fiww ATTORNEY July 29, 1952 FARBER 2,604,866

- MULTIPLE NEEDLE EMBROIDERING MACHINE Filed June 12, 1946 6Sheets-Sheet 4 IRVING FARBER.

INYENTOR ATTORNEY 1. FA RBE'R MULTIPLE NEEDLE EMBROIDERING'MACHINE July29, 1952 B Sheets-Sheet '5 7 Filed June 12, 1946 IRVING FARBER INVENTOR.

ATTORNEY July 29, 1952 1; FARBER 0 MULTIPLE NEEDLE EMBROIDERING MACHINEFiled June 12, 1946 I s Sheets-Sheet e IRVING FAR IN VEN '0 ATTORNEYPatented July 29,

MULTIPLE NEEDLE EMBROIDERING VMAQHINE' Barber, Brooklyn, N. Y.Application an 12, 1946, Serial No. 67 ,239

any desired direction "and wherein the needle moves in combination withthe feed-motion to produce intricate designs.

The universal-feed mechanism of the Bonnaz embroidering machinewhichserves to control the direction of motion ofthe wcrk' is actuated by ahand'crank positioned below the work-supporting base.

The machine also comprises 'a needle actuating shaft which actuates aneedle bar driver and imparts vertical reciprocations; to the needle.

In the practical application of embroidering machines of -the classdescribed when it is desired. to produce duplicate designs parallel orlinear form, it is found that the operator cannot exactly duplicate thesecond or third or fourth,

etc. designs to be exactly like the first one. In

practice it is found that when an attempt made to duplicate Bonnazembroidery designs one at a time and in side by side relation, it isimpossible to achieve exact reproduction'due toitheindividaninaptitud'es'orcharacteristics of thebperator. When such duplication isattempted; the faults in workmanship are clearly visible without thenecessity'o'f closely checkingfleven without a magnifying glass. Thereis, howevenademand in the art for the production of duplicate embroiderydesigns spaced ona strip of material in perfect parallel orlinearrelaticn.

An object of this invention is to produce an attachment for Bonnaz typeembroidery machines which will adapt the embroidery machine forproducing two or more identical designs simultaneously; that is, withoutany difference in the relative spacing of the various figures orelements constituting the designs.

- Another object of this invention resides in an improved mechanism forproducing a plurality of identical size embroidery "designs and whereineach needle has its own coacting oscillating lower and means is providedfor the individual adj stment of the loopers.

Another object of this invention is to provide a mechanism whereby theneedles are so arranged as to produce a plurality of alternating designei' fects simultaneously.

Another object of thislinvention is to mount a "sol mn. (01. 112-98)plurality of front loopers in linearalinement and p a plurality of rearloopers. in linear. alinement'on separate drive shafts. To accomplishthis I have provided independent worm gears, one for each lodper, thefront worm gears being located on one shaft and the rear worm gearsbeinglocated on anin'de'pendent shaft, and each worm gear is in.-dependently and jrotatably, adjustable "on each drive shaft. j]

' In Bonnaz. type machines, before changing the character of. the,stitch; it is necessary to disconnect the looperjfro'n'i its drivera'ndgive to it a half-turn and a like adjustment to the needla nd ineffecting these adjustments"extremecare is essential to the properitiming of thelooper with respect to the line ofneedle actu'ation.

In this disclosure there are-individual mountings'of the looper'actuatinggears which permit these adjustmentsto be made'jf Two forms of.embroidery stitches are common to machines "or type. v z. the ordinarchain stitch and the drop stitch," and this improvednr'iulti-ple-n'eedlev machine" has [means rer' altering the character ofthe rows of stitching by individually changing the operativerelationship of. the loopers and actuating gear member's-so that one.or'rn'ore chain. stitch rows of embroidery may be made simultaneouslywith one or more drop stitch rows of embroidery.

Another object of this invention is-to provide an attachmentfor alBonn'azf embroidery machines/herein two needles-are mounted in thefront and two needles are meuntedin the rear of the machine and toemploy the front, andrear needles in ififirenti relationships or indifierent combinations for eiiecting various types of compositeembroidery, which is notpossiblewith the ordinary singleneedleembroidery machines.

A er ob e of t n ent o i tofrmdu e an t e ment or a B n r m oiderymachine wh re it Pos bl to -.sim iai epus y o era e w t ne roni nee l idon ea n ed whi h a e insane-a a zel i on bu ie: n a s ng ti 'e lane-With he ve n th r ob e s in Vi w the invention will be hereinafter moreparticularly scr b d an the comb ne n a d ran eme f P i l e hown he e'qqm anrin drawings and pointed out in the clairnswhich formpart of thisspecification. I

Re e nce w ll no be d t the. draw n er in l k hume s i ierenqe de gnate"co responding parts throughoutthe several views, in which 4 Fi ureaside e eva on IQ? a; me c ar ort n the ins;:-h. ad f 2111. min. c h e qi d' wit -the-meehae s a vention, a portion of the machine-hel e nbroken away.- s 1::

Figure 2 is an end elevation of the sewing head shown in Figure 1, theportion of the machine below the base being broken away.

Figure 3 is a bottom view of the machine, the thread spool holders forthe needles being removed.

Figure 4 is a top plan view of the head portion of the machine, showingan elongated main needle-bar driver.

Figured-is a top plan view of a nipple carrier.

Figure 6 is a top plan view of the nipple guide.

Figure 7 is a bottom plan view of the carrier for the needle housingsadded by my attachment. 7 V

Figure 8 is a cross-sectional view, the section being taken as on lineB--8 in Figure 7.

Figure 9 is a front elevation of thread spool carriers.

Figure 10 shows a combination of two rows of Bonnaz" embroidery made inaccordance with this invention, with the two front needles.

Figure 11 shows a combination of two rows of Bonna'z embroidery madewith the front lefthand needle and the rear right-hand needle.

Figure 12 shows a composite design of four rows of Bonnaz embroiderywherein the design r elements are alternated and wherein, along anyhorizontal line passing through the design elements the two frontneedles show identical elements which differ from the identical elements'made by the two rear needles.

Figure 13 shows a composite design of two rows of "Bonnaz embroideryhaving a common meeting plane, using the front right-hand needle and arear middle needle.

In the illustrated embodiment of the invention, the numeral loindicatesthe work supporting base of an embroidery machine embodying 'myinvention and comprising a tubular overl6, H in the head l2. The mainneedle-bar I carries at its lower end a hook-shaped needle I8 whichcoacts below the fabric with a looper "(not shown) to draw loops ofthread from a supply spool below the work supporting base 10 through thefabric and enchain the same 'cumference of the foot is of suflicientsize to permit a plurality of needles I8 18 I8 and -|8 to be operativelypositioned therein without any interference from the oscillating foot.The feeding foot 20 derives its feeding movements from a rotary cam 2|upon the shaft |3, as is well known in the art.

The rising and falling movements of the feeding foot 20 are derived froma rotary cam 24 upon the shaft l3 and are transmitted to the feedingfoot by a lever 25. Work-holding and stripping nipples 26 are verticallyreciprocated alternately with the feeding foot from the feeding footlifting cam 24.

The feeding foot 20 is supported for universal feeding movements in theplane of the work supporting base [0, the direction of feeding beingcontrolled by a hand crank I20 below the work supporting base l0.

For the purpose of this invention 1 have elona needle bar I5 4 gated theneedle-bar driver 14 to provide a cantilever extension 30. At the freeend of the extension 30 I have rotatably mounted a tubular needle barhousing 3|. Upper and lower collars 32, 33 fixed to the housing 3|contact the upper and lower faces of the said extension. This mountingpermits rotation of the housing 3| in relation to the needle-bar driverl4 and causes the housing to follow the up and down movements of thedriver.

The upper collar 32 has a screw 34 threaded therein and extendingthrough an aperture in the housing 3|. The screw 34 serves to supportThe needle bar i5 supports the needle l8. 7 At the lower end of thetubular housing 3| I have suitably fixed a spur gear 35. I have mounteda collar 36 on the housing 3| in spaced relation from the gear 35 toprovide support for a supplemental needle bar driver 31. Thesupplemental driver is thus constrained to follow the up and downmovements of the needle bar driver [4.

For the purpose of maintaining the supplemental driver 31 in positionwhile permitting vertical reciprocations thereof, I have provided aguide rod 40 having its upper end portion fixed in a bracket 4| by athreaded nut 42. The bracket 4| is secured to the head I2 by screws 43.The lower end portion of the guide rod 40 is fixed to a nipple guide 44by a threaded nut 45.

A bracket 50 is fixed to the head I2 by a screw 5|. The bracket 50 has ascrew 52 serving to support a stationary shaft 53. Rotatably mounted onthe shaft 53 is an elongated idler spur gear 54.

As shown in Figures 1 and 2, the idler gear 54 is in meshed relationwith a spur gear 55 which is fixed by a screw 56 to the needle barhousing 3|. It is thus possible for the needle bar housing 3| to bemoved up and down by the needle-bar driver l4 while rotated by the idlergear 54.

It is to be noted that the elongated idler gear 54 is in meshedengagement with a drive gear 51 fixed to the main needle-bar housing 58.It will thus be seen that the gear 51 rotates the gear 55 and the needlebar housing 3| through the intermediary of the idler gear 54, thehousings 58 and 3| rotating equally.

It is to be noted that the needle I8 is suitably threadably secured inthe lower portion of the needle bar I5 and that in practice, when it isdesired to adjust the vertical height of the needle |8 the screw 34 isemployed to loosen the needle bar IE: to permit such adjustment. Thescrew 34 also serves to lock the needle bar Iii after said adjustmenthas been made.

Three nipple holders 60 of generally tubular form are threaded in abracket 6 The bracket 6| is secured by screws 62 to a nipple lifterslide bar 63.

For a purpose to be described later, I have provided a nipple holder 60threaded in the bracket 6|. As best shown in Figure 5, a tapped hole 64and a clearance hole 65 are provided for the screws 62. A clearance hole66 is also provided for the guide rod 40.

It is to be noted that the body portion of the bracket 6| has a cavity61 providing clearance for the main needle-bar housing 58.

As shown in Figure 6, the nipple guide 44 has three clearance apertures10 for the three nipple holders 60 The nipple guide 44 has a clearanceFigure 7 is a bottom plan view of the carrier and needle bar driver 31.

The needle bar driver 31 comprises two short needle housings 80 for twonipple holders 60 shown in Figure 5. The needle bar driver 31 alsocomprises one short needle housing 80 for the nipple holder 60 Anaperture 66 is also provided for the guide rod 40. It is topbe notedthat in Figure '7, the guide rod 40 is omitted.

As shown in Figures '1 and 8, the needle housings 80 and 80? carry drivegears 65 which are suitably fixed thereto. Idler gears 86 are rotatablymounted on shoulder screws 61 on the needle bar driver 31. The idlergears 86 are in meshed relation with the drive gears 85. An idler gear38 is rotatably mounted on a shoulder screwv 66 on the needle bar driver31. The idler gear 38 is in meshed relation with one of the drive gears65. The drive gear35 is fixed to the lower end portion of the needle barhousing 3I.

It is to be noted that the rear needle housings 80 and 30 are of lesserheight than the front needle housings 3I and 58.

It will thus be noted that when the needle bar housing 3i is rotated,its attached drive gear 35 rotates the idler gear "86. The idler gear 83drives one of the drive gears 85. The idler gears 06 then causerotation, of the remainder drive gears 85. o

Figure 9 is a front elevation of thread spool carriers 95 and 96. Eachcarrier serves as a mounting for two spools of thread or the like.

The carriers 65 and 36 are fixed in an upright bracket 61. Threadtensioning devices.03,'66, I 00,; and I! serve to adjust the tension ofthe threads leading to loopers I02, I03, I04 and I05, which are wellknown in the art (Figures land 3) As best shown in Figure 3, the threadholder bracket 51 is suitably fixed by screws I01 to the lower face ofthe work supporting base III of the machine.

The loopers I02 to I05, inclusive, are driven by individual looper drivegears or Worm gears H2 and H5, inclusive (Figure 3).

A main looper drive shaft H6 is slidably and rotatably mounted inbearings I I1 and H8. A bevel gear H6 is fixed to the looper drive shaftI I6. Bevel gears-H9 securedtoshafts I32 and H6 and actuated by a crankhandle I20 cause rotation of the looper drive shaft I I 6. The crankhandle I 20 also actuates the feed shaft I2I as is well known in theart.

It will thus be seen that the main looper drive shaft H6 actuates theloopers I02 and I03.

It is to be noted that the looper drive gears I I 2 and I I3 areadjustably mounted on the looper drive shaft II6 by screws I25. Thelooper drive gears I I4 and I I are also adjustably mounted on asupplemental looper drive shaft I26 by screws I25. The shaft I26 isslidably and rotatably mounted in a bearing H1 and in a bearing I21.

The shafts H6 and I26 have gears I28 fixed thereto by screws I29. Anelongated idler gear I30 is mounted in meshed relation with the gearsI28. The idler gear I30 is rotatably mounted in bearings I3 I. The idlergear I30 makes it possible to move the looper drive shafts H6 and I26single operation.

horizontally while actuated by the .crank handle .For the purpose ofconnecting the main looper drive shaft H6 and the supplemental looperdrive shaft I 26 soTthat they will move horizontally in unitaryrelation,I provide shoulder collars I35 secured to the'shafts H6 and I25 byscrews I36. A centrally-split connecting'm'eniber I31 is secured 'byscrews 138 and serves to hold the shoulder collars I35 in unitaryrelation. It. will 1 thus be seen that when the shaft H6 is moved, theshaft' I26 ismoved along in the same direoe tion. i T i Figure 10 showsillustrations of two vertical rows of identical embroidery designs I40,I40 made by the two front needles I8 I8 The em broidery designs I40, I40start and end in identical positions or at identical design elementsI4I, III and I42, I42.

Figure 11 shows illustrations of two rows of embroidery designs I43,I43, made by the front left hand needle I8 and by the right-hand rearneedle I8 It will be noted that the size of the design elements I44, I44 are wider than that shown in Figure 10, due to the increased spacebetween the needles I8 and I83. It is also to be noted that theright-hand row is higher than the left-hand row because the needle I8.making this row is located rearwards of the front needle.

Figure 12 shows illustrations of four rows of embroidery designs I45,I45 and I46, I46 positioned in vertically spaced relation. Thealternating effect is produced by making the first four design elementsI41 simultaneously and in a The four succeeding design elements I48- arealso produced simultaneously. The balance of the'four rows of embroideryis produced by alternating the design effects inrelative verticalpositions. 7

Figure 13 showsan illustration of duplex embroidery design I45 made byusing the front right-hand needle I0 simultaneously with the rear centerneedle (not shown). The right-hand needle I8 and the rear center needle(not shown) produce figures I5I, The operator then proceeds in adownward direction to make figures I52, I52 simultaneously.

As shown in Figure 3, a clearance aperture or housing I55 is provided inthe looper housing I56 for the reduced end portion of a looper. Aclearance aperture I 51 is also provided in the housing I56 concentricwith the aperture I55 for the gear teeth of the looper. The aperturesI55 and I51 are-employed for mounting a looper therein when it isdesired to make embroiderysuch as is shown in Figure 13 which requires arear central needle.

It will thus be seen that when this machine is operated with one frontneedle and one rear needle, which are in spaced-apart relation but liein a single vertical plane, that composite designs such as that shown inFigure 13 may be produced while operating in the customary manner, thatis, lengthwise of the fabric.

Figures 2 and 4 show hand operated means for raising the feeding foot20. As shown, a lever arm I60 is rotatably mounted on. a pivot NH. Thelever arm I 60 comprises an annular end portion I62 which is cam-shapedand slopes down from the right-hand end portion near the lever arm to asubstantially flat plate-like surface. A pin I63 in a feeding-footlifter I64 is in pressure contact with the annular portion I62 due tothe force exerted by a spring I65 (Figure 2).

It is to be noted that the rear needle housings and 60 are short ascompared with the front I5I in the same operation.

needle housings 3i and .58.. The rear needle housings 80 and 82 (Figure8) have threaded apertures 161, each serving to receive a screw [68(Figure 1). c

By making the rear needlehousings 80 and BO ofshort lengthI am able toposition the rear needles I8 I8 very close to the front needles [8 andIt without interfering with the construction of the Bonnaz embroiderymachine.

The machine has four active needles which produce the design shown inFigure 12. The machine has five needle housings, only four of which maywork at any particular time. The machine has. one inactive housing 155for the usual loopen? :Theina'ctivehousing 155 in conjunction with theneedle-I8 are used to produce the design shown in Figure 13. s 1

Figure 1 is the frontof the machine, the way the operator faces themachine when operating. The inactive nipple holder 60 shown in Figure 5is for the housing 80 The clearance aperture "I8 shown in Figure 6 isfor the nipple holder 60.

In accordancewith the patent statutes I have described and illustratedthe preferred embodiment of my invention, but it will be understood thatvarious changes and. modifications can be made therein without departingfrom the spirit of the invention as defined by the appended claims.

I claim: v 1. In a multiple-needle embroidery machine for simultaneouslyproducing a plurality of independent ,embroiderydesigns, a plurality offront needle housings, a rear needle housing, a needle bar driver, asupplemental needle bar driver carried by said needle bar driver, saidsupplemental needle bar driver carrying one of said front needlehousings and said rear needle housing, said rear needle housing being oflesser height than said front needle housings.

- 2., In a multiple needle embroidery machine having a set of front.needles and a rear needle mounted in spaced-apart relation forsimultaneously .producinga plurality of identical and independentembroidery designs of uniform size, thedesigns produced by said frontneedles being in' spaced-apart relation from the designs produced bysaidrear needles, said needles being independently'rotatably mounted, avertically reciprocable main needle bar driver carrying said frontneedles,la' supplemental needle bar driver carrying :saidwlrear needle,said supplemental driver being positioned in'a direction transversely ofsaid machine, said main needle bar driver having an extension, the freeend of said extension serving to support said supplemental needle bardriver, feeding foot means adapted to inclose all of saidneedles eachneedle mounting comprising a gear, idlergear means positioned in meshedrelation with said needle mounting gears to cause said needles to rotateequally, a main looper drive shaft for said front needles, asupplemental looper drive shaft for said rear needle, 2. plurality ofloopers respectively coacting with said needles, and adjustableindividual looper drivers mounted for oscillating each of said loopersequally and in timed relation with said needles, one of said needlemounting gears being a drive gear, a feed direction controllingshaftoperatively connected with said drive gear, and means for actuating saidshaft to cause identical actuations of said needles.

3. In a multiple needle embroidery machine having a plurality of frontneedles aligned lengthwise of the machine and a rear needle mounted forsimultaneously producing a plurality of embroidery design elements inspaced-apart relation, said rear needle being positioned laterally ofsaid front needles and of said machine, said needles being rotatablymounted, a vertically reciprocable main needle bar driver carrying saidfront needles, a supplemental needle bar driver carrying said rearneedle, said main needle bar driver having an extension serving tovertically reciprocate said supplemental needle bar driver, feeding footmeans adapted to inclose said needles, each needle mounting comprising agear, idler gear means in meshed relation with said needle mountinggears causing said needles to rotate equally, a main looper drive shaftfor said front needles, a supplemental looper drive shaft for said rearneedle, gear means operatively connecting said drive shafts to causeboth shafts to rotate in the same direction, looper drive gears mountedon said drive shafts, a plurality of loopers driven by said looper drivegears and respectively coacting with said needles, said looper drivegears being adapted for oscillating said loopers equally and in timedrelation with said needles, one of said needle-mounting gears being adrive gear, a feed direction controlling shaft operatively connectedwith said drive gear, and means for actuating said shafts to causeidentical actuations of said needles.

IRVING FARBER.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file ofthis patent:

FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 13,108 Great Britain Aug. 26, 1899105,693 Germany Sept. 14, 1899

